What are genre tropes?

What is a trope?

A trope is a recurring theme, motif, or plot device that writers use to convey specific ideas or evoke certain emotions. These might seem cliché, but they’re fundamental to getting the plot of a story across—and they can even serve as a jumping off point for fresh ideas.

Good storytelling often involves tropes as the baseline for a narrative. If you’re writing within a popular genre, you’ll likely be familiar with the existing tropes that have been both reinforced and dissected over the decades: the damsel in distress, the man with no name, etc. By knowing that these exist, this gives you room to be creative and add some subversion into your fundamental story.

Common tropes in your favorite literary genres

No matter what your favorite genre is, you’ll notice familiar elements and patterns that define and distinguish these genres. Here are some of the most common tropes:

Western

• The Lone Wolf: The man with no name who walks into town and solves its problems before dealing with the bad guy.
• Train robberies: This traditional heist sees robbers jumping onto a train from horseback, or making themselves known in a crowded train carriage, before taking everyone’s money.
• Bar brawl: Once a hot-headed patron sees a losing hand in poker, or sees the protagonist as an enemy, there’s bound to be a fight that breaks out.

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Horror

• The haunted house: A group of strangers band together, or are brought together by unusual circumstances, to explore a mysterious location that could be a house, a hospital, or a post-apocalyptic landscape.
• Anyone can die: This trope reinforces the idea that nobody is safe in a horror story, no matter how commonly featured one character is. Even main characters can be killed off, a tactic that is meant to shock the reader.
• Nightmares turn real: A character might think that they’re asleep, but it turns out that while they were sleeping, a horrible deed they committed or were beset upon actually happened.

Mystery

• Red herrings: In a murder mystery, there will be clues that will lead both the detective character and the reader astray, whether it’s framing another character or proving to be a dead end.
• The incompetent police: Regular police officers (or the police chief) will interfere with the case and dismiss any hunches that the detective has. They might even take the detective off the case, forcing them to solve the case on their own.
• Who you least suspect: A seemingly kind character holds a secret grudge that compelled them to commit the crime, or someone who was assumed to have nothing to do with the case is in fact the murderer. This twist is among the most common in mystery stories.

Fantasy

• The damsel in distress: Whether it’s from a dragon or an evil sorcerer, there’s always a princess or a love interest who needs to be saved. This trope is not only a tale as old as time, but it is also the one most subverted in popular movies and fantasy books.
• The chosen one: An unassuming character is summoned on a quest. But no matter how reluctant he is, he’s born from a noble lineage, or possesses rare and hidden powers that can save the world.
• Larger-than-life threat: There’s a threat to the kingdom or the realm, whether it’s the doings of a sinister wizard or a magical object that could bring doom. Only one hero can rise to avert catastrophe.

Romance

• The love triangle: Two characters love the same person, or someone new is introduced to a couple’s life—the chance for drama and emotions can run high in these scenarios.
• Enemies to lovers: Whether they’re rivals or vying for the same hand, two people hate each other at the beginning of the story realize that they’re meant for each other.
• Forbidden love: Made most famous by Shakespeare, this trope relies on the feud between rival families, or differences in class standings.

With these tropes in mind, you’re free to explore how to write stories that follow them so that you can stay within the genre. Or, once you familiarize yourself with these tropes, you can craft creative angles to subvert them and bring an exciting new twist to your readers. Brush up on creative writing tips such as exploring different voices or how to use tenses.